This invention relates to a method of producing silicon carbide powder, particularly to a method of producing a silicon carbide powder consisting of fine particles of uniform shape and size.
Silicon carbide is excellent in high-temperature stability, mechanical strength, thermal conductivity, etc. and, thus, extensively used as materials of, for example, atomic reactors, chemical plants, hot gas processing apparatuses, electrical heating elements and electron resistors. In particular, silicon carbide is useful as a high-temperature engineering material. Thus, vigorous researches are being made in an attempt to develop a silicon carbide material effective for saving energy and natural resources. In order to obtain materials suitable for such uses, it is necessary to use a silicon carbide powder consisting of fine particles of uniform shape and size as the material which is to be sintered.
It is customary to employ, for example, the reaction between silica and carbon for producing silicon carbide powder. However, any of conventional techniques in this field fails to provide a silicon carbide powder consisting of fine particles of uniform shape and size, rendering it substantially impossible to obtain a sintered silicon carbide of satisfactory properties.